Murders up, overall crime down in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS—St. Louis had more homicides in 2013 than 2012, but police say over overall the city was down.

St. Louis recorded 120 murders in 2013, up seven from 113 in 2012, according to statistics released Monday. That’s still a far cry from the peak of 267 in 1993.

Total crime was down 5.4 percent, while violent crime dropped 10.3 percent from 5,661 cases to 5,078. Officials say property crimes decreased by more than 5 percent.

“Overall crime is down almost 50 percent since 2006…While I am encouraged by our successes, I also know there is much more work to be done,” said St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson.Forcible rape was one violent crime that went up in 2013, with a 67.3 percent increase from 199 to 333 cases. Police attributed the rise to a newly-implemented definition of rape.